Single layer color film packaging machine

ABSTRACT

A single layer color film packaging machine includes a supplying system having pair of upright supporters, a cross bar mounted between the two upright supporters, a plurality of rods extending downwardly from the cross bar, two guide rods mounted between the two upright supporters, a film feeding device having a primary frame on which is installed a sealing cutter, an arm extending from the primary frame for mounting a roll of film which has an end extending through between two rollers, a sealing cutter mounted inside the primary frame and a cutter driven by a pneumatic cylinder, a rear end of a chain of the continuous feeding device extending to a rear side of the cutter, a fixing board fixedly mounted by leading rods, and two guiding racks being mounted at two sides of the conveyor belt for transmitting articles, a shrinking device including a furnace the interior of which is partitioned into an upper chamber and a hot shrinking chamber, and a motor being mounted on a top of the furnace for driving an impeller to make an air current within the upper chamber.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention is related to a single layer color film packaging machine and in particular to one which can continuously package articles thereby increasing the packaging efficiency.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional packaging machine 1 generally includes a frame on which are mounted an upper and lower shrinking films 2. As the articles 3 to be packaged are transmitted to the platform by a conveying system 4, the piston rod of a pneumatic cylinder 5 will push the articles 3 (such as beer, soft drinks, . . . etc.) to the other side of the platform and then the articles 3 are packaged by the shrinking film 2. Thereafter, the shrinking film is severed by a cutter and finally the articles 3 are transmitted to a shrinking machine for shrinking the film 2.

[0005] However, there are the following drawbacks in using the pneumatic cylinder 5 to push the articles 3 for packaging:

[0006] Firstly, since the pneumatic cylinder 5 is used for pushing articles 3 for cutting and packaging operations, the conveyor system 4 must stop when the pneumatic cylinder 5 pushes out its piston rod until the piston rod retracts into the pneumatic cylinder 5 thereby interrupting the packaging and conveying operations and therefore lowering the efficiency.

[0007] Secondly, the articles 3 (such as half a dozen or a dozen of beer, or soft drink) may not be arranged in order if the air supplied to the pneumatic cylinder 5 is not steady thus influencing the packaging outlook.

[0008] However, the film feeding operation of the conventional packaging machine 1 suffers from the following drawbacks:

[0009] Firstly, a sealing line will be formed every time when the packaging film 2 is severed thereby causing the packaging film 2 wrapping the article 3 to have two creases, one at the front end and the other at the rear end and therefore seriously influencing the outlook of the package.

[0010] Secondly, it is very difficult to control the length of the film for packaging the article 3 so that the upper film is often not the same as the lower film thus making it only suitable for use with single color packaging and unfit for multi-color packaging.

[0011] Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved single layer color film packaging machine which can obviate and mitigate the above-mentioned drawbacks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] This invention is related to an improvement in the structure of a single layer color film packaging machine which can increase the packaging efficiency.

[0013] The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.

[0014] Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015]FIG. 1 is a front view of a conventional packaging machine;

[0016]FIG. 2 illustrates the operation of the conventional packaging machine;

[0017]FIG. 3 is a front view of a single layer color film packaging machine according to the present invention;

[0018]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a supplying system according to the present invention;

[0019]FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the working principle of the supplying system;

[0020]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a continuous feeding device for the single layer color film packaging machine according to the present invention;

[0021]FIG. 7A is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 7;

[0022]FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D and 8E illustrate the working principle of the present invention;

[0023]FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the sealing and cutting device according to the present invention;

[0024]FIG. 10 is a front view of a film feeding device for the single layer color film packaging machine according to the present invention;

[0025]FIGS. 11, 12 and 13 illustrate the working principle of the present invention;

[0026]FIG. 14 illustrates a packaging film according to the present invention;

[0027]FIG. 15 is the working principle of the film shrinking device; and

[0028]FIG. 15A is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 15.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0029] For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings. Specific language will be used to describe same. It will, nevertheless, be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device, and further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated herein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

[0030] With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 3 thereof, the packaging machine 10 according to the present invention generally comprises a supplying system 11 for supplying articles 110 in a predetermined quantity (such as 6, 12 bottles, . . . etc.) to a feeding device 20. Then, the feeding device 20 causes the packaging film 300 to wrap the articles 110 and the packaging film 300 is severed by a cutter. Thereafter, the articles 110 are transmitted to a shrinking device 500 for shrinking the packaging film 330 on the articles 110.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 4, the supplying system 11 comprises a pair of upright supporters 150, a cross bar 14 mounted between the two upright supporters 150, a plurality of rods 16 extending downwardly from the cross bar 13, two guide rods 13 are mounted between the two upright supporters 150, two pairs of sliding seats 130 each pair mounted on one of the guide rods 13, a plate 131 mounted on the bottom of the sliding seats 130. On the bottom of the plate 131 are mounted a plurality of downwardly extending movable partitions 120 forming a plurality of chambers each aligned with a respective one of the rods 16. A plurality of fixed partitions 12 are installed behind the movable partitions 120 above the conveyor belt 26. The piston rod of a pneumatic cylinder 17 is connected with a connecting plate 170 which is fixedly mounted on the sliding seats 130.

[0032] Referring to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the fixed partitions 12 are used for grouping the articles 110 on the conveyor belt 26 and the articles 110 are then transmitted to the movable partitions 120 and stopped by the rods 16. As the pneumatic cylinder 17 moves the plate 131, the plate 131 will slide along the guide rod 13 thereby maling the movable partitions 120 to bias a predetermined amount of the articles 110 to the position where the articles 110 will not be blocked by the rods 16. Then, the articles 110 can be transmitted

[0033] Referring to FIGS. 7, 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 8E, 10, 11, 12 and 13, the film feeding device comprises a primary frame 15 on which is installed a sealing cutter 400. An arm 31 extends from the primary frame 15 for mounting a roll of film 301 which has an end extending through between two rollers 32. One of the rollers 32 is driven by an electric motor 33. A secondary frame 34 is mounted on the front side of the primary frame 15. On the secondary frame 34 are installed a micro-switch 35 and a movable rod 36, so that when the packaging film 300 is pulled upwardly by the articles 110, the movable rod 36 will be moved upwardly to leave the micro-switch 35 thereby turning on the electric motor 33 to drive the rollers 32 to feed a predetermined length of the packaging film 300 for packaging the articles 110. The other end of the packaging film 300 under the primary frame 15 is moved by rollers 39 driven by an electric motor 38. The articles 110 is fed by a conveyor belt 26 on to a platform 27 and then wrapped by the packaging film 300. When the packaging film 300 is severed by the sealing cutter 400, the packaging film 300 will be formed with a crease 305. In the meantime, the electric motor 38 drives the rollers 39 to pull the packaging film 300 to move downwardly until the detecting point 302 of the packaging film 300 is detected by a sensor 37 mounted on the primary frame 15. As a consequence, the packaging film 300 returns to its normal tightness for next packaging operation. That is, the crease 305 is pulled downwardly so that the next package will not include the crease 305. Furthermore, the packaging film 300 will be adjusted in position in every packaging operation so that the color pattern on the packaging film 300 will be located at the same position in packaging operation.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 9, the sealing cutter 400 is mounted inside the primary frame 15 and a cutter 41 is driven by the pneumatic cylinder 42. The rear end of the chain 21 of the continuous feeding device 20 extends to the rear side of the cutter 41. A fixing board 44 is fixedly mounted by leading rods 43. A pneumatic cylinder 45 is mounted on the fixing board 44 for driving a pressing plate 46. Two guiding racks 47 are mounted at two sides of the conveyor belt 261 for transmitting articles 110. Hence, the article 110 wrapped by the packaging film 300 is held by the pressing plate 46 to prevent oscillation, and then sealed by the sealing cutter 41.

[0035] As shown in FIGS. 10-13, the primary frame 15 is provided with a sealing device 400 from which extends a supporting frame 31 for fixing a packaging film 301 which is driven by a roller 32 which in turn driven by a motor 33. A fixing frame 34 is mounted on the front side of the primary frame 15 and provided with a micro-switch 35 and a movable rod 36, so that when the packaging film 300 is pulled to wrap the article 110, the movable rod 36 will be lifted to disengage with the micro-switch 35 thereby turning on the motor 33 to drive the roller 32 to transmit a predetermined length of packaging film 300. Further, another end of the packaging film 300 under the primary frame 15 is pulled by a roller 39 driven by the motor 38. The articles 110 are transmitted by the conveyor belt 26 to a platform 27 and wrapped by the packaging film 300, so that when the packaging film 300 is sealed and severed by the sealing cutter 400, there will be a clearance 305 (see FIG. 13). In the meantime, the motor 38 drives the roller 39 to pull the packaging film 300 to the position where there is a detecting point 302 (see FIG. 14) until it is detected by a sensor 37 on the primary frame 15. Hence, the packaging film 300 will return to its normal tightness for next packaging operation. That is, the seam 305 is pulled downwardly so that the next package will not have the seam 305 left in the previous packaging operation. Further, the pattern on the packaging film 300 will be ensured to locate on the same position of the article 110.

[0036] Furthermore, an air pipe 270 is mounted between the front board 27 in front of the conveyor belt 26 and the lower mold of the sealing cutter 400 for blowing air to the seam 305 of the packaging film 300 thereby speeding up the cooling of the package.

[0037] Looking now at FIG. 15, the shrinking device 500 includes a furnace 50 the interior of which is partitioned into an upper chamber 54 and a hot shrinking chamber 55. A motor 51 is mounted on the top of the furnace 50 for driving an impeller 52 to make an air current within the upper chamber 54 thereby causing air to flow into the shrinking chamber 55. A guiding plate 58 extends from the interior of the shrinking chamber 55 to the outside to form a handle 57 which can be used to adjust the position of the guiding plate 58 to guide hot air to go outside thus blowing hot air to the sleeve of the packaging film and therefore facilitating the shrinking of the packaging film 300.

[0038] It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.

[0039] While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 

I claim:
 1. A single layer color film packaging machine comprising: a supplying system including pair of upright supporters, a cross bar mounted between the two upright supporters, a plurality of rods extending downwardly from the cross bar, two guide rods mounted between the two upright supporters, two pairs of sliding seats each pair mounted on one of said guide rods, a plate mounted on a bottom of the sliding seats, a plurality of fixed partitions installed behind movable partitions above the conveyor belt; a film feeding device having a primary frame on which is installed a sealing cutter, an arm extending from the primary frame for mounting a roll of film which has an end extending through between two rollers, sealing cutter mounted inside the primary frame and a cutter driven by a pneumatic cylinder, a rear end of a chain of the continuous feeding device extending to a rear side of the cutter, a fixing board fixedly mounted by leading rods, a pneumatic cylinder mounted a the fixing board for driving a pressing plate, and two guiding racks being mounted at two sides of the conveyor belt for transmitting articles; a shrinking device including a furnace the interior of which is partitioned into an upper chamber and a hot shrinking chamber, a motor being mounted on a top of the furnace for driving an impeller to make an air current within the upper chamber thereby causing air to flow into the shrinking chamber, a guiding plate extending from the interior of the shrinking chamber to the outside to act as a handle for adjusting position of the guiding plate. 